Everyone She Loved: A Novel [Hardcover]

Sheila Curran (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 16, 2009

A wise and triumphant novel about four women who’ve come of age together only to discover that—when it comes to the essentials—life’s little instruction book will always need revising.

Penelope Cameron has convinced her husband and four closest friends to sign an outlandish pact. If she should die before her two daughters are eighteen, her husband will not remarry without the permission of Penelope’s sister and three college roommates. For years, this contract gathers dust until the unthinkable happens—a disaster that only lovable, worrisome Penelope could have predicted—and everyone she loved is left in a world without her.

With the help of Penelope’s friends, her husband and children slowly build new lives. But just when things start to come together, the fragile serenity they have gained is suddenly threatened from within, and the unbreakable bonds they share seem likely to dissolve after all. Entertaining and uplifting, Everyone She Loved explores the faith one woman placed in those she held dearest, the care she took to protect her family, the many ways in which romantic entanglements will confound and confuse even the most determined of planners, but above all, the abiding strength of friendship.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Curran is a beautiful writer, both witty and evocative, and she knows how to keep a reader riveted. I was up way past my bedtime, unable to stop turning pages. I had to know what happened to this family. Read this book, then pass it on to your dearest friend. She'll thank you." -- Joshilyn Jackson, bestselling author of Gods in Alabama and Between, Georgia --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Sheila Curran lives in Tallahassee, Florida, with her husband and children.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books; 1 edition (June 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416590668
• ISBN-13: 978-1416590668
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,626,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a Food Evangelist, pressing recipes on my friends until they cry for mercy
The longest I've managed to stay on a diet can be counted in hours and on one hand. I am terrified of making phone calls to people I don't know, even if it's to get my washer repaired or hire a sitter. I once successfully gave up drinking for three days until my children and husband begged me to just have one beer.

I have been kept alive, literally and figuratively, by the affection and support of my family and friends, whose sum total is my proudest boast and matters much more to me than my bank balance or intelligence quotient.

To make money I've written grants, waited tables, tended bar and worked in the admissions office at an alcoholic treatment center. I have two children, a Master's degree in Comparative Literature, a standard poodle who gets suicidal when I leave the house, and an annoying habit of either talking-too-much-while-speaking-too-loud or having absolutely nothing to say, sometimes within the same five minutes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Page Turner from beginning to end, March 27, 2010

By 

Elizabeth M. Parker "Nanabeth" (Kent, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everyone She Loved: A Novel (Wsp Readers Club) (Paperback)

Everyone She Loved is one of the most intriguing books I've read in a long time. Sheila Curran's insight into the tangled web of feelings in relationships is nothing short of astounding. I found myself so caught up in these characters I really cared about what happened to them. It was a page turner from beginning to end.

I have read some of the other reviews and it makes me wonder what kind of trash some of these people usually read, that they were unable to understand the deep significance of this novel.Some criticism has been raised about the believability of the codicil...the basic premise that the story revolves around.If you want non-fiction...read it! Tell me a fiction novel that is actually entirely believable. Most of them have the same trite plot and all they do is change the names of the characters. Many are rife with explicit sexual scenes, yet you have excoriated Ms. Curran for a few very tame, not too explicit love scenes making this sound like a pornographic novel. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The plot had so many twists and turns it was consistently interesting and intriguing.I fell in love with the characters.
For anyone who has had close friends, sisters, husbands, children...the story will grab your heart, and you will see reflections of those you love in these characters.You may even see yourself.

As someone who suddenly lost a parent at an early age, I am amazed at how the author has captured the childrens' pain, fear, and psychological suffering as if she herself had gone through it.

I should say that I am an avid reader of all genre. I read at least 10 books per month, so I have read books that I finished and felt as though it had been a complete waste of my time.
This is a book I will certainly read again.I highly recommend it to anyone who has the intelligence to understand the intricacies of human relationships, and wants to explore them further. A GREAT READ!!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sweet and thoughtful portrayal of friends and family, August 2, 2009

By 

Backroads "Scatter-brained book fan" (Cache Valley, Utah) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Everyone She Loved: A Novel (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

I'm not really one for chick lit, but every so often one just calls out to me. While I still would not consider "Everyone She Loved" to my exact taste, Curran's strong writing and the lack of cheesiness in favor of some true, understated heart did leave with good feelings.

The story is set in a small Southern town where the more elite of society have made their homes. Penelope, though dead the entire novel, haunts the story with her memory and the impact of a rather silly-seeming legal document that put her four friends in charge of approving a new wife for her husband should anything happen to her. It's an amusing and intriguing concept that actually manages to make a serious and thought-provoking little story.

That isn't to say this isn't fun. Despite the serious tones, the novel is heart-warming and uplifting and even funny at times. There is scandal and drama galore and Curran certainly has her fun with her characters, but there is also a clear love for characters and story alike.

Indeed, it is chick lit, but I never did find it tacky or overbearing. Curran has a fabulous way with words that makes this a story worthy of reading.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Friends Forever?, August 1, 2009

By 

Roberta Karchner (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Everyone She Loved: A Novel (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

We never get to "meet" Penelope - she has been gone for 2 years as Chapter 1 Opens. Instead, as her family and friends live their lives without her, you come to see her through their eyes. As you get to know each of the people in this story, you come to understand both Penelope and the characters in a very personal way - they become your friends too, especially Lucy, Penelope's husband, and her two teen daughters.

The storyline which is laid over the characters gives them a great place to play out their relationships with one another and it gives good cohesiveness to the book. But in the end it is the wonderful characters that I will remember and continue to love.

The only weakness that I found was that Ms. Curran did not craft the antagonists with the same painstaking care that she used on the more likable characters. Perhaps it is because Ms. Curran is a warm and likable person herself? But even so, I truly appreciate receiving this as a "Vine Selection" and really enjoyed the privilege of being able to read it.

4 Stars for an "almost" perfect read!